


Avengers v. Ableism

by whitchry9



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Ableism, Blind Character, Disability, Gen, Matt/Foggy if you squint really hard, people are generally dicks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-14 17:00:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4572492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitchry9/pseuds/whitchry9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Avengers are surprisingly good allies, as Matt finds out on a number of occasions where other people are dicks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Avengers v. Ableism

**Author's Note:**

> For a prompt:  
> http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/3230.html?thread=7524510#cmt7524510

Clint's birthday was coming up, and as a joke, Matt wanted to get him one of the toy Hawkeye bows they sold in toy stores. Steve had offered to accompany him, as he was looking for more lego, since he'd fallen in love with it. He had half of Brooklyn set up in one of his rooms, and from what Matt could tell, it was accurate. (He didn't know Brooklyn as well as he did Hell's Kitchen, but he knew it enough.)

 

So they went to a toy store, and Steve offered to help him find it, but Matt told him to go get his lego. He would be fine on his own.

He wasn't being entirely truthful, because stores were at least the second circle of hell for him, with flat signs and labels that he couldn't read.

 

Matt waited for one of the many employees to ask him if he needed help, but none did. It was a fine line between forcing help when it wasn't needed, and offering it when it was. Or ignoring him when he needed it.

 

Finally, he snagged an employee passing by.

“Excuse me, can you tell me where your Avengers merchandise is located?” he asked.

The employee, a young woman, told him. “Oh, they're just over here.”

She was pointing; Matt could tell. He waited.

“Could you take me there please?” he asked after a moment, when it became clear she wasn't going to clue in.

“Oh, um...”

“I've got this,” Steve said smoothly, nudging his elbow up against Matt's arm.

Her heartbeat skipped, probably realizing Captain fucking America was standing right in front of her. And since Matt was asking about Avengers merchandise, who better to take him there than Captain America himself?

 

Steve led him to the Avengers merchandise, and Steve pointed out the package that was the nerf bow and arrow. Matt could feel the shape, once he knew it, but he'd never have been able to pick it out off a shelf on his own.

 

“Thanks,” he told Steve.

“No problem. You need wrapping paper?”

“Nah, I've got some left over from Christmas. It'll be perfect.”

Steve laughed.

 

Clint loved the present, and loved the wrapping paper even more. Matt was told it had candy canes on it.

 

* * *

 

Clint and Matt were out to eat, because Clint claimed it was the best pizza place in all of New York. Matt was skeptical, so Clint decided he needed to prove it.

  
As they sat down, Matt had to admit it smelled great.

 

“Hello. I'm going to be your server today.”

She set menus down in front of them both.

Matt's cane was folded up and tucked beside him on the bench, and sunglasses weren't unusual to be seen indoors, so he gave her the benefit of the doubt.

“Can I get a braille menu please?”

She startled. “Oh, of course. I'll be right back.”

 

Matt smiled at Clint. “That's better than most of them take it.”

 

She returned and set the menu down in front of Matt. “I'm sorry, it's a bit outdated,” she said loudly. “If you have any questions about specials, I'd be happy to help you out.”

Clearly she was of the opinion that being blind also made you deaf.

Matt frowned. “There's no need to speak loudly to me, I can hear you just fine.”

“Talk louder to me though,” Clint chimed in. “I'm partially deaf.”

“I'm sorry,” she stammered. “I'll be back in a minute to take your drink orders.”

 

When she was a safe distance away, Matt grinned at Clint. “That was the first time I got to use that excuse.”

Clint shrugged. “I'm full of surprises.”

 

The pizza was very good, although Matt wouldn't say it was the best in all of New York.

 

* * *

 

“So, is he like... your babysitter?”

“What?” Steve growled. “I'm sorry, I may have misheard you. Did you seriously just ask if I was responsible for the care of this man, who is an accomplished lawyer, and is in fact showing me around this neighbourhood? Choose your answer carefully now.”

“Oh god... no. I'm so sorry.”

Matt decided that was enough of the conversation. He took Steve's elbow and turned him back to the street. When they were out of earshot of the stupid young man, Matt spoke to Steve. He could practically hear him gearing up for a fight, and Matt was reminded of just how many back alley brawls Steve instigated back in Brooklyn.

“Steve, no, you can't beat him up in an alley. He apologized.”

“He said a stupid and insensitive thing,” Steve growled.

Matt was practically dragging Steve away at this point. He could only imagine what it was like when he weighed 90 pounds soaking wet. He imagined it was a lot like a very angry chihuahua being dragged away from a fight, yipping the whole way.

Steve was letting him though, because Matt knew he wouldn't be able to do it if Steve was actually fighting him.

“Let it go,” Matt sighed.

Steve actually growled. Dog indeed.

“Do they not know that I grew up with multiple disabilities? Do they really think that I'd just forget about what I went through because I slept for seventy years?”

Matt shrugged. “They probably look at you now and see a perfect specimen. So I've been told. Foggy,” he explained.

Steve laughed. “I'm far from perfect. The serum cured a lot of things, but it didn't fix everything.”

“What didn't it fix? If you don't mind me asking.”

Steve leaned closer. “You promise you won't tell anyone?”

“Of course.”

“I'm still colourblind,” he admitted.

Matt grinned.

 

* * *

 

Matt paid the cashier with a fifty dollar bill. He didn't have any smaller bills, otherwise he'd have used them, since the purchase was less than ten dollars.

The cashier handed him back the change and placed the bag in his hand. “Have a nice day.”

“I think you miscounted,” Natasha said sweetly.

The man's heartrate increased. “I don't know what you mean.”

“His change was supposed to be $40.15. You gave him fives instead of twenties. I'm sure it was just a little mistake, and of course he wouldn't notice. But now that everyone is aware of the problem, let's fix it, shall we?”

She smiled widely. Matt imagined all of her teeth were showing.

Matt handed the bills back and waited as the man counted out his real change. He accepted the bills and folded them up to put in his wallet. Twenties got quartered. With all the anti-counterfeiting measures, he couldn't tell the bills apart anymore without the use of technology, or time old techniques like that one.

 

Natasha linked her arm with his as they walked away.

“Thanks for that,” he admitted.

“I want to feed him his own testicles,” she said pleasantly.

Matt laughed. “Well, thanks for not.”

“Does that happen a lot?”

“More often than I'd like,” he admitted. “But often I won't know about it until later when I get home.”

“You can't tell the bills apart?” she asked, a bit surprised.

“Have you seen American money? All the same. No braille, no different sizes for different denominations, nothing. I used to be able to tell them apart by touch, but not with the newer bills.”

“That's awful.”

Matt nodded. “Canada has braille identifiers on their money, and I'm told it's all different colours, which doesn't really matter to me.” He grinned. “And apparently Australia's money is different sizes depending on the denomination.”

“In sum, America sucks.”

Matt nodded.

“Could you sue the government for that?” Natasha wondered.

Matt tilted his head and considered it. “I'll talk to Foggy.”

 

* * *

 

Matt was standing outside, his head tilted up towards the sun. It was a cool day, but the sun was warm.

 

There was a hand at his arm.

“Are you alright sir? Do you need help getting somewhere? Are you alone?”

Matt smiled tightly. “I'm just waiting for a friend, thank you.”

“Matthew!” Thor boomed.

“That friend,” he added.

“How fare you today?”

“Fine.”

The well meaning stranger started to walk away.

“Is that a friend of yours?”

Matt shook his head. “They thought I needed help. Can you believe they asked me if I was alone, like I need a minder to go out?”

He got to his feet and began to lead Thor down the sidewalk.

“Why do they assume you cannot be out alone? Is there some custom I do not know about? In Asgard, those bearing a child are not allowed out on their own when the birth time draws near. I assume you are not with child, Matthew. Is it like that?”

Matt sighed. “It's because I'm blind.”

Thor stopped dead in his tracks.

“Because you do not have sight?” he asked, disbelieving.

Matt nodded. “You don't need to make a big deal about it.”

“I come from a world where we have warriors and men who can see all the nine realms. We have those who can use magic and those who cannot. In fact, I have a nephew who is a horse with eight legs who was birthed by my own brother, and yet they ask you if you can walk the streets of your home on your own? There are wonders in this universe that most cannot even imagine, and yet, they still ask you if you are safe on your own? You, who may not have sight, but can sense me coming from blocks away, who fights like the most valiant warriors in all of Asgard-”

“Thor,” Matt interrupted.

“My apologies.” He lowered his voice. “I forget that your talents are not known to the world.”

“It's okay. Come on, I've got someone who wants to meet you. Do you like lattes?”

Thor beamed. “I once had a latte most vanilla. It was wonderful.”

Matt grinned back. “I think you're going to like him.”

 

* * *

 

Bruce finally agreed to accompany Matt to the gym one night. They went around closing time, since Matt still had an agreement with the owner so he could use it after hours. It was normally empty then, but that day there were two stragglers who were just leaving.

Matt could feel them eyeing him, especially his cane, and he worked to not listen to their whispers.

 

They'd finally worked up the courage to speak to him just as Bruce came out of the change room.

“Um, are you allowed to be here?” one asked.

“Oh wait, he has a friend,” the other one noted, seeing Bruce. “Are you looking after him?”

“Am _I_ looking after _him?_ ” Bruce repeated. “Are you serious?”

The men shuffled nervously.

“You're seriously asking me if a grown man is allowed to go to the gym on his own, just because he's blind. That's ableism. Do you know how ableism makes me feel?”

The men looked at each other, and one shook his head.

“Ableism makes me angry,” Bruce said quietly. “You won't like me when I'm angry.”

Their heartrates increased with the realization of who exactly Bruce was.

One of the men poked the other. “Dude, I think that's the Hulk,” he whispered.

“Shit man. I'm out of here.”

“Um, sorry,” the one stuttered, and nearly tripped over his own feet in an effort to get away.

Matt grinned. “Bruce uses anger. It's super effective.”

Bruce seemed a little startled, but laughed a moment later. “I guess it was.”

 

Matt taught him some basics of boxing, but that was still the highlight of their evening.

 

* * *

 

The skies above New York opened again. Instead of aliens coming down, this time it was hail. Really massive hail, but still not aliens. So Matt wasn't sure why everyone was running around and screaming.

He was just calmly, but briskly, walking to the nearest subway station, staying under the cover of overhangs and tree branches. He figured it was relatively safe, because he couldn't feel the spark of electricity in the air that indicated lightning. Just a freak hail storm.

So he was walking along, minding his own business, while people around him ran screaming like it was aliens falling from the sky.

 

Someone grabbed his arm and began dragging him in a different direction. “Dude, it's like the apocalypse out here, you've got to come inside.”

Matt yanked his arm back.

“Geez, there's no need to drag the guy. He can walk on his own.”

Matt turned towards the voice.

“Hello Tony.”

Tony wasn't in the Iron Man suit, but it could have been nearby. “Heya Matt. How are you on this fine day?”

“It was just hailing.”

Tony shrugged. “Mostly Thor's fault. It's nice out otherwise.”

“And why was Thor making it hail?”

He shrugged again. “I'm really hoping it wasn't for a bet like last time.”

“Thor made hail for a bet?”

“Yeah, he met this woman upstate who didn't believe he could do it. So they had a... weather-off I guess.”

“He was the reason there was a tornado?” Matt remembered the day Tony was talking about. All sorts of strange weather, all in a short period of time in upstate New York.

“No, she was responsible for the tornado. He made it hail.”

“I think he might like hail a bit too much.”

Tony nodded. “Yep. Need a lift anywhere?”

Matt considered it. He really did hate the subway. “Can I get a ride home?”

“Of course. And guess what. I already know where you live.”

Matt sighed. “Of course you do.”

“Arm?” Tony offered, and Matt accepted it. “Unless you know, you like being dragged down the street.”

Matt groaned. “Absolutely not. I mean, I'm sure you don't like being dragged, so why would anyone assume that someone who's blind would like being dragged?”

“People are idiots,” Tony agreed.

 

* * *

 

“So Matty, how are the Avengers?”

“Surprisingly great,” Matt replied, resting his head on Foggy's shoulder. It was just there, and seemed like a great place for his head to go. Foggy was slurping up the last of the noodles from the Chinese takeout they'd gotten. Matt could name every single ingredient used in the sauce.

“They're not dicks about anything?”

“No, they're actually really understanding. Did you know that Steve had multiple disabilities before he had the serum? It cured a lot of them, but not everything. So he has first hand knowledge of what kind of jerks people can be.”

“And Tony Stark isn't being a dick?”

“No. I kind of thought he might be, but he isn't. He does have that thing in his chest you know, whatever it is. I don't think he's told the truth about what it does exactly though. They all seem to understand, and they've been really helpful about calling out others on their behaviour.”

Foggy hummed around a mouthful of noodles.

He swallowed. “Too bad. I made a powerpoint and everything.”

Matt laughed.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> American money is stupidly hard to tell apart even if you're sighted. Canadian money is better, but Australian money is super clever.  
> The reference to Thor loving lattes is from an annual of Deadpool (I think).  
> It's likely that the serum didn't change Steve's colourblindness, because it's a lack of cells in the eye that detect colour, and is usually genetic.


End file.
